What’s your number?

My number is somewhere north of 70; that’s just the warm weather stuff and doesn’t count hiking, running or gardening stuff. What am I talking about? Pieces of clothing.

Last week’s post turned out to be a riff on the quote “you can only wear one pair of pants at a time,” a thought that runs through my mind when I’m in my closet. How many pieces of clothing do we need and why is there never anything, or the right thing, to wear?

I don’t have a frame of reference but I don’t think I have a deep wardrobe. Still, 70+ pieces seems like a lot. What’s in your closet?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the American family spends $1700 a year on clothing. Fact: in 1930, the average American woman owned nine outfits compared to 30 today.

A survey of the spending habits of 1000 women by ING Direct and Capital One suggested that the average woman with a life expectancy of 80 year will spend about $125,000 in her lifetime on clothing and accessories; women under 25 are likely to hit $200,000.

Enter Project 333 with the tag line of “be more with less.” The concept? Every three months create a wardrobe of 33 items that you can live, work and play in. This includes jewelry (except for your wedding ring), accessories, outerwear and shoes. Underwear, sleep wear, lounge wear and workout clothing are not included (whew!).

They make the point, more than once, that this is not a project in suffering. Rather, it’s a project in thoughtful dressing and making space in your life for more rewarding things.

According to the Project 333 website, “People will not notice that you are dressing with the same 33 items for 3 months, although they may notice there is something different about how you present yourself. You will likely get more compliments. That has been my experience and that of others on this journey.” Interesting! Come to think of it, I can’t remember what any of my co-workers wore yesterday…

I’ve taken a stab at this thanks to the professional advice of Monica Negri , owner of Ten Outfits. It really helps to have a fashionista look through your closet and give a quick thumbs up or down to things that have accumulated through inertia.

Next step? Reducing 70+ pieces to 33. We’ll see…

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